I'm looking for any information on a prop that's been in my family for ~50+ years. From what I gather it was picked up in a barn by my grandfather in central PA somewhere, probably in the 60's. He got two of them - my uncle has the other. It hung on the wall in our house for 25+ years.

Thank you for any info regarding the history of this piece! Matt at Hartzell pointed me to the woodenpropellor website, so it seems likely that this came off of a PT-13. But I can't find what models used the R-680-9 engine. Any idea if this was used during the WWII timeframe, or if it was made afterwards?

Also, any estimates on value would be helpful. I have had this in storage for about five years now, and will be moving out of the country in the fall - unfortunately can't take it with me. A niche market, but I'm hoping that there's a collector out there that will appreciate it as much as we did.

Hartzell manufactured 3 different versions of that propeller, all under Type Certificate #631. The 3 variations were for bolt sizes on the hub (1/2", 7/16" and .640" with a slight variation in the bolt circle diameter.

The type certificate expired in 1954, meaning that any props of that design manufactured after that date were not approved for use on certificated aircraft. (One manufactured before that date was legal to use until it was no longer airworthy.)

The nomenclature stamped on yours is a little unusual, but there was a lot of variation in how that was done. It certainly seems highly likely that it was used on a PT-13 aircraft and probably in the 1940s and 1950s, but note also that it was applicable for use on the Boeing N2S-5 as well. There were a number of variations of the Lycoming R-680 engine, but the fact that the prop is stamped for 220 HP it's one of the earlier variants in that series.

It's possible that the "42" prefix indicates production in 1942, although that's not clear to me.

The value would depend on what the front face looks like, including both decals, and whether there is any damage, alteration, or evidence of re-finishing.

Thank you for the informative response! Very cool to think that this could have been used as far back as '42.

I apologize for not getting back to this sooner, I've been pretty busy. I attached a number of more detailed photos. Hopefully this will provide a better idea of what I have here. Sorry for the wall of photos.